Ambulance service boss resigns amid ‘tremendous pressure’

The ambulance control room in Hellesdon. Chief Executive Robert Morton. Byline: Sonya Duncan Copyright: Archant 2017 ARCHANT EASTERN DAILY PRESS (01603) 772434 The boss of the region’s embattled ambulance service has revealed he will step down. The ambulance control room in Hellesdon. Chief Executive Robert Morton. Byline: Sonya Duncan Copyright: Archant 2017 Robert Morton, chief executive at the East of England Ambulance Trust (EEAST) made the announcement in a post on a staff website yesterday evening. Mr Morton took over at EEAST in August 2015 after interim chief executive Dr Anthony Marsh stepped down. But he has come under much criticism in recent months from unions and MPs as the trust struggled to cope with winter pressures and found itself in the middle of a whistleblowing scandal. EEAST answered up to 3,200 calls a day during winter 2017/18 and frontline staff have spoken out about the pressure they are under. A whistleblower released a dossier in which it was claimed a number of patients came to harm after long delays over the winter. A external review later found three patients did suffer severe harm. Management also came under fire as MPs called for top managers to step down in July. Mr Morton said in a statement: “While I feel privileged to be the chief executive of EEAST my future plans mean I cannot commit to a further three years. I feel this is the right time to hand over to someone else. Norman Lamb. Picture: Polly Hancock “I wish to… [Read full story]